


the basics and the simple life

by idontremember



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cat, Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Harry Potter, Draco and Harry POV, Drarry, Hogwarts, M/M, Oblivious Harry Potter, Pining Draco Malfoy, Potions, Professor AU, Professor Draco Malfoy, UST, Yes there's a cat in this deal with it, idk - Freeform, maybe some smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-15 00:17:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19284190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idontremember/pseuds/idontremember
Summary: Five years after the war, both Draco and Harry are looking for something new. When they both arrive at Hogwarts as new professors, feelings start to get involved, and neither is sure what kind of feelings. Throw in a sneaky cat and a few unfortunately placed spells, and you've got a recipe for an eventful year.





	the basics and the simple life

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is literally just an introduction, so it's not very interesting, sorry. The plot will really get going in the next chapter :)

The day Ginny leaves him is cold. Harry will remember this, at least, the snow falling outside and her words that chill him to the bone. I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. He watches helplessly as she storms around their bedroom, shoving clothes into a suitcase.

“Gin-” He starts, but she snaps her head back with fury in her eyes, daring him to keep speaking. She walks over to the bed where he’s sitting, and he feels a brief flicker of hope, but instead she takes the framed photo of them on their bedside and calmly smashes the glass beneath her shoe. She draws a ragged breath then meets Harry’s eyes. She doesn’t look angry anymore, only sad, and Harry doesn’t know which is worse. 

“You know this isn’t worth it anymore, Harry. We can’t go on like this.”

“I’ll cut back on my hours at the Ministry. You know I don’t like my job anyways. I can be here for you.”

“No, Harry. It’s really over. I’m sorry.” She looks it, too, what with the tears making slow tracks down her face. She hesitates a moment, perhaps waiting for Harry to say something. He doesn’t. What could he say? Ginny takes another shaking breath and then walks out the door, carrying her suitcase along with her. Harry hears the brief pop outside and knows that she’s disapparated. 

He lies back on the bed, smashing his face into the pillow. He wonders when their marriage started failing, sometime in these five years after the war. Was it his fault? Should he have taken less hours at the Ministry, stopped going to Quidditch games with Ron on the weekends? When did he stop loving her? His body starts shaking, and before he knows it he’s crying, harder than he’s ever cried before, because he’s finally admitted to himself that he doesn’t love her. The worst part is that he’s not sure if he ever did.

*******************************************************

Draco’s life after the war is exactly what he wants it to be. He’s free from the public eye, working in a small muggle shop, and living in a tiny flat. It’s safe and normal and comfortable. Still, he sometimes misses the magical world, and keeps his wand by his bedside, as if to remind himself that he was someone special once. Perhaps special would be the wrong word. Rather, something out of the ordinary. He’s become, if he’s quite honest with himself, a somewhat boring man. The passion and anger and fire that burned in him as an adolescent has quieted, replaced with a sense of complacence.

It’s a Sunday morning, bleak and dreary, when Pansy comes to visit him. He smiles in spite of himself when she comes bustling through the door to his flat. She’s the same as ever, a flurry of perfume and hair and gossip and, for Draco at least, nostalgia.

“Draco, darling, it’s been too long. How are the muggles these days?” It’s sweet that she asks, though Draco can tell she’s uninterested.

“Work’s going alright. Tea?” She nods, and he leads her through the doorway to the parlor. Pansy begins chattering amicably as he prepares the tea.

“You know, everyone misses you, Dray. Blaise even told me the other day that he ‘wouldn’t mind having you around,’ which is basically an admittance of true love. And Hogwarts is obviously desperate for you to teach potions. I heard they fired the last three professors.” Draco chuckles, deep and low in his throat. He brings the tea over to Pansy, and she nods her thanks.

“I’m sure they miss me,” he says, with just a hint of his old arrogance, “but I can’t go back into that world. My past would… would make me a target.”

“But that’s just it. It’s gotten better. People are understanding and they get that most of us didn’t have a choice. I can walk anywhere I want now, without people throwing things at me.” Draco is silent. Maybe it’s better for Pansy, but he is sure that he wouldn’t survive going back into the wizarding world. It’s not just his reputation he fears, but his own mind. He’s managed to keep the nightmares at bay, safe and sound in his muggle bubble, but he knows, somewhere inside of him, that if he were to set foot in Hogwarts it would all come hurtling back at him, a barrage from within his heart. He’s not sure he’ll b able to handle remembering the death, the destruction, the lies. It’s a few minutes before Pansy speaks again. 

“Alright, we won’t discuss that today, but don’t think I’m going to let you off easy. Now how is your dating life? Any dashing young men I should know about?” Draco shakes his head, relieved by the subject change.

“No, there’s not.” Which is accurate. Mostly. The thing is that there could have been, there was, many muggle men who would have gladly become his. But he found them all lacking something, some passion and excitement. If he’s being honest with himself, he knows exactly what they lacked, or rather, who they were not.

As if she can read his mind, Pansy casually asks, “So have you heard about Potter and the Weasley? Broken up, after five years. It’s all over the tabloids. Apparently Potter was ‘neglecting her.’ What a story, huh?” Draco wills his heart to stop pounding. His hands are slightly sweaty against the arm of the chair he has collapsed on.

“Interesting,” he says weakly. Pansy gives him a knowing glance and casually changes the subject yet again.

Maybe it’s the boredom, or Pansy’s visit, or the mention of Potter. Maybe it’s an unexplainable burst of bravery, or maybe it’s nothing at all, but when Draco receives yet another owl formally asking him to teach Potions at Hogwarts, he writes an acceptance letter with shaking hands, and sends it back by owl.

*******************************************************

Three days after Ginny dumps him, Harry receives an owl in the mail. It has the familiar seal on it, the one he remembers from his days as a student. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He opens it cautiously, unsure as to what he may find. It’s a letter from Headmistress McGonagall.

Mr. Potter,  
I hope this letter finds you well. We at Hogwarts are in need of a new Defense professor. We were hoping that you might be willing to come fill in the position. Please do respond as soon as you can, we are in a bit of a time crunch.  
Sincerely,  
Minerva Mcgonagall

Harry responds, writing yes on the back of the parchment without even thinking about it. He wonders if he’s in his right mind, but shrugs it off. This opportunity seems perfect. A new job, a way to get away from the press and Ginny and all of it. Besides, revisiting what is essentially his childhood home will be comforting and familiar. He leans back against his kitchen counter and sighs, feeling content for the first time in, possibly, years.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this!! Leave some feedback please, I want to improve my writing.


End file.
